Hello
by conspiraciesandlegacies
Summary: Sometimes, one simple word does the trick. -"Wait." He looked nervous. He took a step forward. He was so close. He was too close. She wouldn't be the one to back down this time. His whispered words lingered in her ears long after they were spoken.- L/J


_Disclaim: Doesn't take a genius to guess that I don't own any of the characters or the song excerpts, does it?_

_"I know that I had sworn I'd never trust anyone again but I didn't have to;  
__You had me at hello,"_

_—A Day to Remember, "You Had me at Hello."_

* * *

**(First Year)**

"Hello, again."

She turned to the sound of the voice that came from behind her.

Black hair, hazel eyes; she recognized him from the train. He was the pompous brat who had interrupted her and Severus on the train.

She wrinkled her nose in distaste, and turned away without answering.

He laughed. "You're the girl from the train."

She scowled, but refused to give him the satisfaction of an answer. He didn't seem miffed in the slightest, but turned to another boy and whispered something in his ear. They both laughed and her ears turned red as she realized they were most likely talking about her.

"_I dare you to tell her that her hair reminds you of carrots_."

* * *

**(Second Year)**

"Hello, to you, too," was the retort James Potter gave her when he received an angry glare from Lily Evans.

"What the hell do you want?"

"Nice to see you, too," he replied, rolling his eyes.

"Whatever. Stay out of my way."

Slughorn started his lecture at that moment. Today, they were concocting a particularly foul smelling, acidic potion. It just so happened that today, they were also working in partners, which put Lily in James Potter's direct line of fire. Perhaps it was because contact with him was scarce (she avoided him at all times without exception), but she had let her guard down.

The potion went well, and just as she was about to scoop out a sample for Slughorn to grade, James happened to drop an extra ingredient. Not only did the splash cover them both in the rank smell of spoiled eggs, but it happened to explode.

Needless to say, she did not smell delectable. Ever the hypocrite, James screeched at the top of his lungs, intending to embarrass her,

"_Holy motherfucker, Evans, you reek!"  
_

* * *

**(Fourth Year)**

"Hello, Lily," he said innocently—a little too innocently.

She eyed him warily. His hands were folded behind his back, his eyes wide and his grin stretching across his face.

"What did you do?"

He sighed dramatically. "Why is it that you always assume that I've done something terrible to you?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Potter, go away," she said rolling her eyes, and trying to shake off the paranoia.

Little did she know that it wasn't paranoia, but rather intuition.

The professor called the class to order, and as soon as the class was silenced, her friend Lisa jumped out of her seat and screamed. "You're on fire!" she screamed. The rest of the class turned to where Lily was sitting.

Her chair had spontaneously combusted and the friction had ignited a tiny flame that lit her behind. And set her entire skirt on fire. She let out a piercing scream.

The entire class had erupted in screams, and only Professor McGonagall stayed calm, waving her wand and saying in a clear voice, "_Aguamenti_!"

A clear stream of water shot out of her wand tip and hit Lily squarely in the rear end. The water put out the fire. And allowed her underwear to show beneath her scorched skirt.

Silence. And then Sirius Black wolf-whistled. Then laughter.

"_Her panties are scorched too!"_

**[...]**

"Hello, Evans," he said pleasantly.

She spared him but a glance, before turning and walking down the hall hurriedly. Ego still bruised, pride still fragmented, she refused to even acknowledge him.

He chuckled to himself and took a few long strides towards her. She hadn't realized how tall he was. It seemed just three years ago, he was shorter than her.

"Where are you headed?" he asked casually, as though he was completely unaware that she was ignoring him.

When she didn't answer he shrugged and pursed his lips to contain a smile. "Okay, it's alright. I can have a one way conversation."

She sped up to get to the Gryffindor common room. One more staircase, down another hallway and she could escape from him.

He kept pace with her though. At this point, she had to jog to stay ahead of him. Sighing, she turned to him.

"Why won't you leave me alone?"

He smirked, happy to finally get a response. "I thought we could talk."

"You can talk. I've nothing to say to you."

"Oh, you're still mad about the er-incident, aren't you?"

She gave him a look that clearly questioned his sanity. "You set my chair on_ fire_."

He restrained the urge to snicker. "Would you believe me if I said I had nothing to do with it?"

She rolled her eyes.

"I'll take that as a "no" then," he said, laughing.

They arrived at the portrait hole, and she opened her mouth to give the password—

"Wait," he said abruptly. He looked nervous.

He took a step forward. He was so close. He was too close. She didn't shrink away; she wouldn't be the one to back down, not this time. His cool breath played on her face when he opened his mouth to speak.

Mint.

His face was two inches from hers; their noses almost touching.

His whispered words, apologetic, nervous and slightly ashamed, lingered in her ears long after they were spoken.

"_I'm sorry."_

* * *

**(Fifth Year)**

"Hello?"

The knock on the door, accompanied a soft greeting that was more of a question.

"What the fuck do you want?" she replied vehemently, getting off the desk, where she had been sitting for the past while. Deserted classrooms where the best part of Hogwarts: there were so many that it was on a rare occasion that you'd find one occupied by another person. Unless, of course, you had been looking…

"I wanted to apologize."

At this, she gave him an incredulous look. "Apologize?"

He interrupted, "Just listen—"

She glared at him. "No, you listen, and listen good. I don't care for your dumb apology. We both know you don't mean it. So you know what you can do with that apology? Take it and shove it up your a—"

He held his hands up. "Sheesh, no need to get vulgar," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Vulgar? _Vulgar_?" She was so angry, that she could barely speak. All the insults she wanted to hurl at him seemed to get stuck in her throat and form a lump so big it made her want to cry.

He rolled his eyes. "No need to have a fit. I only came to apology."

"Yeah, to apologize," she scoffed, "because God forbid that James Almighty Potter would _ever_ do anything worth apologizing for. God forbid that James Freaking Potter would ever do something condescending or rude, or just plain petty. And God forbid that you would ever mean the apology. Because then the sky would fall, wouldn't it?"

All the pent up anger she had been feeling since the incident at the lake (and frankly, for the last five years) seemed to explode. The odd thing was even after all was said and done, the lump in her throat only seemed to swell.

Left alone, after Lily had stormed out, slamming the door behind her, he spoke, more to her than to himself.

"_God, Evans, it was just an apology."_

* * *

**(Sixth Year)**

"Hello."

The voice nearly gave her a heart attack. She got up from where she had been sitting on the ground, by the Great Lake. She pointed her lit wand at the person, only to recognize his features and scowl. "What the hell are you doing here?"

He chuckled softly. "I could ask you the same question. You're the one sitting by the Great Lake at one in the morning."

She glowered at him again when he took a seat next to her. "Potter, what exactly do you want?"

He looked a bit injured when he answered, "Nothing… I didn't know you'd be here. I like watching the sky on summer nights and I thought, since it was the beginning of the end, and stuff, I should take time to appreciate Hogwarts."

She bit her lip, a little embarrassed that she had jumped to conclusions. It wasn't like he stalked her or anything.

"It's pretty isn't it," he said, absentmindedly, as he lay down on the ground beside her. She scooted aside, a little uncomfortable to have him so close. He didn't seem to pay heed to her, instead he continued to talk, "In astronomy they teach us how to plot the stars and explain their significance. They never teach us about their beauty."

She raised her eyebrows, slightly taken aback. She had never thought James Potter could deep.

She sat up slightly, propped against her elbows, head thrown back heaven ward. She made sure to keep an arm's length distance. He sat up and towered over her.

He bent slightly, so that they were closer.

Her breath hitched.

Her heart sped.

She could smell the subtle smell of aftershave. She could practically feel the stubble on his chin. She could almost taste his lips.

She needed to stop him, to clear the air. She needed to ask him to stop.

"James—" It didn't sound like a protest, but rather an encouragement.

He gave her a lopsided, reassuring smile. When he spoke, the words were hesitant and followed by a short, sweet kiss.

"_Would it be okay if I took your breath away?"_

**[...]**

"Hello, Lily."

The trunk she had been trying to lift onto the rack in the compartment fell to the floor with a loud _thunk! _as she jumped back at the sound of his voice. She narrowly avoided being crushed by it.

"Ja—Potter!" she scrambled to find words.

He smiled slightly. "I didn't mean to startle you."

She wrung her hands together nervously. How was she supposed to act after last night?

For Heaven's sake, he had kissed her! And she had just sat there as though she enjoyed it. And then proceeded to let him walk away without so much as a hex.

"What is it that you wanted?" she asked, trying not to sound nervous or curious, both of which she was.

He walked closer slowly, taking the time to ruffle his hair slightly and worry his lip.

"I thought that after last night, we should talk or something—"

She set him straight. "We shouldn't."

He furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

"We shouldn't talk. There isn't anything to talk about."

He sighed, frustrated, and ruffled his hair again. "What more can I do? I've tried everything. I've left you alone. I haven't asked you out. What else can I do?"

This time, it was her who took a step closer. "Don't you understand?"

This time, he looked even more perplexed. They were inches away from each other. She could smell him. She could clearly see the flecks of gold and green in his brown eyes. She could count the number of tiny little pores on his thin nose.

And if she leaned in, just the slightest, she could kiss him.

"James you didn't have to do anything."

"But—"

She laughed and cut him off again.

"_You had me at hello."_

* * *

**Note: Okay, so it's possibly really cheesy. And really fluffy, and pretty much substance-less, but a little cotton candy (or cheese, in that case) never hurt anyone. And now I'm rambling so I'll shut up. :)**

**Obviously, it's inspired by the song "You had me at Hello" and it stands alone.**

**Please, please, please REVIEW? It would be really appreciated even though this is a one shot. I'll go back and fix errors and whatnot.**

**Thanks and love to all,**

**conspiraciesandlegacies.**

***A few of the sentences written in italics are direct quotes from the song, which I can't claim right to.:)**


End file.
